Spiritual Literacy

SCRIPTURE:  And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. Nehemiah 8:12 ESV

QUOTE: “Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.” – John Adams, 2^nd President of the United States 

THOUGHT: I had this quote by John Adams on a poster on my wall all the way through high school and college and treasured it along with the words of a hymn, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” that I had penned in calligraphy. Kind of strange for a teen, but both pieces of art have had profound impact in my life. The God who wouldn’t let me go on the one hand, the dream of writing on the other. Maybe you have a few treasures from your youth that are like that too?

At the time I didn’t think too much about the “dare” word in Adams’ quote, but it’s becoming clearer that it was the core of his message, not a sidebar. It’s daring to think and allow words to flow from your pen and your mouth. No one knows better than God the power of the spoken and written word. It’s how he created the world and the primary means by which we learn of his character.

Historically, almost all peoples were “illiterate,” (in the sense that they didn’t read or write), but that didn’t mean they were ignorant or unwise. The ancient Hebrews were an aural culture – they learned by listening and imitating, and they passed along history by robust memorization that would put us to shame. Every single serious Jewish scholar memorized the entire Torah (first five books of the Old Testament) in order to take part in the discussions that were so key to faith and education. Can you imagine memorizing Numbers?

Today we deal with two types of spiritual illiteracy, similar to Nehemiah’s day. After 70 years in Babylon, the people hadn’t heard the word of God regularly, and those who had it memorized were mostly dead. Their culture was ignorant of God’s truth, dying – and the same thing is happening in the United States: widespread spiritual and Biblical illiteracy. The knowledge of God is being lost.

When the people who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon first heard the reading of the Scripture, they were grieved and wept (Neh. 8:9). But their leaders encouraged them to celebrate rather than weep because it was a day of new beginnings. Not only had they heard, they had understood the words that were declared to them. They became literate in the way that the Holy Spirit makes us literate.

So, to John Adams quote I add the thought that understanding is also daring. It is the act of critically reading, thinking, speaking and writing – all while looking to an invisible God to give you understanding – that makes one spiritually literate.

Do we dare draw near and understand, and help others in our God-illiterate culture do the same?

PRAYER: Oh God, we want to be daring in not only reading, thinking, speaking and writing, we want to dare to understand the truth of each matter under the guidance of your Holy Spirit.